2023 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOKS FESTIVAL NAMES “THE ACCIDENTAL ECOSYSTEM” FOR TOP HONORS


LOS ANGELES_ An engaging look at how American cities have unexpectedly filled with wildlife and what this means for people and nature is the winner of the 2023 Southern California Book Festival, which honors the best books of the fall.

Author Peter Alagona’s The Accidental Ecosystem: People and Wildlife in American Cities (University of California)  explores the notion that with wildlife thriving in cities, we have the opportunity to create vibrant urban ecosystems that serve both people and animals. The Accidental Ecosystem tells the story of how cities across the United States went from having little wildlife to filling, dramatically and unexpectedly, with wild creatures. Today, many of these cities have larger and more charismatic wild animals living in them than at any time in at least the past 150 years. Why have so many cities—the most artificial and human-dominated of all Earth’s ecosystems—grown rich with wildlife, even as wildlife has declined in most of the rest of the world? And what does this paradox mean for people, wildlife, and nature on our increasingly urban planet?

This is the first book to explain this phenomenon from a deep historical perspective, and its focus includes a broad range of species and cities. Cities covered include New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Austin, Miami, Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Digging into the natural history of cities and unpacking our conception of what it means to be wild, this book provides fascinating context for why animals are thriving more in cities than outside of them.

Other winners in the competition:

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

WINNER: Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless – Mitzi Perdue

RUNNER-UP:

In the Time of Madmen – Mark A. Prelas

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • My Gay Church Days – George Azar
  • Black, White, And Gay All Over – Frederick Douglass Reynolds
  • A Notebook of Love – Luis Trivino
  • Saved from Dementia – John Vieira


PHOTOGRAPHY/ART:

WINNER: Curves and Angles – Charles Rawlings

GENERAL NON-FICTION:

WINNER: The Accidental Ecosystem – Peter Alagona

RUNNER-UPS:

The Five Elements of Relationships – Dr. Vicki Matthews
Story and Structure – Leon Conrad
The Music Therapy Studio – Rick Soshensky

HONORABLE MENTIONS:


COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:

WINNER: ESPN: One Giant Leap for Fankind – Bill Rasmussen with Donald T. Phillips


BUSINESS/TECHNOLOGY:

WINNER: The Value Equation – Christopher Volk

RUNNER-UP: Freeman Explains! – Michael J. Freeman Ph.D

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • Ethical Profit – Samantha Richardson


SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS:

WINNER: Discover Your Joy – Louise Pistole

RUNNER-UP: When Secrets Come to Light – George R. Hopkins

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • Something We Never Imagined – Douglas Wemple


HOW-TO:

WINNER: The Visibility Mindset – Bernice Chao and Jessalin Lam

RUNNERS-UP:

The Essential Rules of Love – Phil Russotti
99 Legal Tips – L. Scott Briscoe

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Unstoppable Artist – Barbara T. McCulloch
  • From Half-Full to Overflowing – Paula Leed
  • Made in America by Americans… - Richard V. Battle


MEMOIR:

WINNER: Ever Vigilant, Tales of the Vietnam War – Michael J. Hebert

RUNNERS-UP:

Spirit of a Hummingbird – Felicia Thai Heath
In Herschel’s Wake – Michael Wohl

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Saffron, Rose Water and Blood – Soudabeh Etessami
  • Fleur-De-Lis, Khaki Shorts and Me – Graeme C. Legge
  • Born into Crisis – Kenneth Nixon
  • Her Alibi – Mary L. Schmidt
  • Not Your Father’s America - Cort Casady
  • Where the Lilacs Bloom Again – Roni Rosenthal


POETRY:

WINNER: Words in Passing – E.M. Schorb

RUNNER-UP: Adventures of Dragons Den – Ann Allison

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • Sonnets of Love and Joy – Paul Buchheit


YOUNG ADULT:

WINNER: Hierarchy of Blood – Jennifer Haskin

RUNNER-UP: Salmon Croquettes – Glodean Champion


CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

WINNER: Adventures of Jackson – Adam DeGraide

RUNNERS-UP:

Mommy’s Blue Stilettos – Missy Brickman
I Would Love You Even If You Were a Coconut– Bucleigh Newton Kernodle
Mahalo Does Not Mean Trash – Paki Perkins, Hiwalani Perkins, Puniaikeao Perkins and Alapaki Perkins

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Back to the Beach – Dreama Denver
  • Something New in Cloverville? – Janet Stuart
  • Marky the Magnificent Fairy – Cynthia Kern OBrien
  • Grandy: A Year in the Life of a 12 Year Old Boy – Andy Pittman
  • Finding Joy – Raven Howell
  • The Adventures of C.W.: Choices – Sandy Meeks
  • Building Our Main Street – Kristian James
  • Fingerprints of God – Melanie Burgess
  • Be Mindful of Monsters – Lauren Stockly


GENERAL FICTION:

WINNER: Crippled Jack – Boston Teran

RUNNERS-UP:

The Long and the Short of It – RJ Stastny
Bobby Truax – Denise Cassino
Pericles and Aspasia – Yvonne Korshak

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Outcast – Eve Riley
  • For My Sister – Puja Shah
  • Reinception – Sarena Straus
  • Pacifica – Richard C. Deason
  • The Placeholder – Lynda Wolters
  • The Ridders – Lisa Towles
  • Christelan Chronicles Outcast Community – Tris Strudel
  • Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer – Michael Stockham
  • The Light Reflected – Will Freshwater
  • Contrarian – Lucas Sterling
  • A Field Within – T.C. Solomon
  • Yellow Slicker – Deanna Nese
  • Pressure Point – Betty Briggs
  • The Northfield Saga – Calvin B. Fisher
  • The Love They Could Not Share – Mars Avelino
  • Victim or the Crime – Paul Sanders
  • The Reluctant Visionary – Datta Groover
  • Free Nina: The College Years - Edward “EJ” Mulraine
  • Nad of Nadide – Wagih Abu-Rish
  • Proud Pada – S.G. Blaise
  • Everything Here Belongs to You – Saborna Roychowdhury
  • God’s Gift Women – Freddie Floyd Jr.


REGIONAL LITERATURE:

WINNER: What the Heart Knows – Mara Purl


NATURE/ANIMALS:

WINNER: Desert Friends: Travels with the Pack – Linda Harkey


WILD CARD:

WINNER: Limerick Comics – Robert Hoyman

RUNNER-UP: Victim or the Crime – Paul Sanders

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Poetic Injustice – Jonathan Sure
  • The Fearless Moral Inventory of Elsie Finch – Lynn Byk